Facebook's New iPhone App Feature Turns the Clock Back to 2007

[East_Bay_Mac]

I learned this "trick" years ago for the online version of Facebook. This does NOT apply to the mobile app version. To view your feed in chronological order by time, add ?sk=h_chr to the end of facebook.com/ (just bookmark https://www.facebook.com/?sk=h_chr )

You're welcome

 

[baryon]

Remember when Facebook was about connecting with people? I almost forgot, it was pretty good at that for a few years. The day it died was when they killed the chronological feed.

 

[KRBM]

How about just a chronological feed in your timeline? I like the format of Facebook but as long as it’s associated with Zuckerberg, it’s a no for me. I’ll stick with X.

Is this a joke or do you actually not know?

 

[russell_314]

I like Big Macs but hate Ronald McDonald, so I’ll eat vomit instead.

I’m not sure how this analogy of Big Macs works with Facebook and vomit lol

If you said “I like how McDonald’s dining room is set up, but I don’t like Ronald McDonald (I’m guessing in this scenario he owns McDonald’s?) so I go to Burger King instead” that would sort of make sense.

 

[russell_314]

Remember when Facebook was about connecting with people? I almost forgot, it was pretty good at that for a few years. The day it died was when they killed the chronological feed.

Same here. I guess that didn’t work for the advertisers or something.

 

[russell_314]

Is this a joke or do you actually not know?

To my knowledge, you can’t get the chronological feed. Maybe I’m not doing something right but I can’t figure out how to get it on the app. It’s going to be funny if you tell me, there’s an easy way to do it 🤦‍♂️

 

[East_Bay_Mac]

To my knowledge, you can’t get the chronological feed. Maybe I’m not doing something right but I can’t figure out how to get it on the app. It’s going to be funny if you tell me, there’s an easy way to do it 🤦‍♂️

To get a chronological feed on the app... Click on the Menu hamburger icon on the bottom right, then click on the Feeds icon on the bottom left corner right above See more

 

[Musubi]

Yeah, it’s using a lot of open source stuff. Hopefully there’s no secret evil tech investors involved.

Dorsey (original Twitter CEO) originally started the research for a decentralized Twitter (Bluesky's AT Protocol) in 2019 before the whole thing was spun off 2 years later; he stepped down from the Bluesky board in May 2024. It initially was supposed to just be the protocol (an alternative to ActivityPub) with Twitter eventually utilizing it on the backend. After Musk acquired Twitter, all financial and legal ties were severed. The focus also changed where it would become an alternative social media platform.

The company subsequently was setup as an independent public benefit corporation (PBC). Software engineer Jay Graber is the CEO. Some of her background is interesting. Her mom (who grew up in the Cultural Revolution) came to the US from China in the 80's. One of her earlier jobs was soldering bitcoin mining equipment and she later worked for a cryptocurrency firm. I guess time will tell if the PBC angle (where profit isn't the only motivator for ROI) will prevent it from becoming another target for oligarchs that want to control the narrative.

 

[HVDynamo]

How about just a chronological feed in your timeline? I like the format of Facebook but as long as it’s associated with Zuckerberg, it’s a no for me. I’ll stick with X.

You had me until X...

 

[jz0309]

That changes starting now, according to Meta, which today introduced a new feature that will "bring back the joy" of classic Facebook.

there was joy in FB???? seriously?

 

[russell_314]

To get a chronological feed on the app... Click on the Menu hamburger icon on the bottom right, then click on the Feeds icon on the bottom left corner right above See more

Wow I think that works. It’s crazy that’s not the default. There are some ads mixed in, but that’s fine with me.

You had me until X...

Well everyone has their preferences. I like the format where you can easily choose between the algorithm in the For you tab or go to the Following tab and you can see posts chronologically. I can’t send Facebook where it shows me a random post from three days ago where someone’s having their birthday. Oh great I’ll make sure to comment three days later wishing them a happy birthday 😂

 

[Starscape]

Yeah, nah I’m not installing this spyware on any of my devices.

 

[russell_314]

Yeah, nah I’m not installing this spyware on any of my devices.

On iPhone, it only has access to what you give it. If you give it access to your contacts, it will have access. If you give it your location access then it’s going to have your location. The trick is don’t give it unnecessary access.

Also, it’s still going to be able to profile you with extreme accuracy just based on what you look at in the app and what you interact with. There’s no getting around that with social media. It doesn’t need to listen in on your conversations or spy on you.

 

[Lionel Messi]

Deleted Facebook in 2019 and never looked back. Good riddance of toxicity in 99% of posts & comments.

 

[ghanwani]

So they are admitting now that they took the joy away.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

there was joy in FB???? seriously?

Close enough, years ago

 

[Capeto]

Meta is losing marketshare and this is a desperate attempt to claw back at it. Facebook is rotten with AI slop and no one under 35 uses it. Instagram is full of ads and trying to pivot into a TikTok clone. Threads is just influencers, celebs, and brands talking to each other. The Metaverse... lmao. WhatsApp might be the only worthwhile holding of theirs but that won't make them any money outside of whatever metadata (no pun intended) they're already collecting off it and connecting to your other Meta accounts.

On top of all this, Zuck has shown his true colors and revealed himself to be even slimier than we previously thought.

 

[Martin Bland]

So they are admitting now that they took the joy away.

Angry people are more profitable.

I find it hard to believe that Zuckerberg suddenly found a conscience.

 

[MagicBoy]

Stopped using Facebook after they got into the throwing democratic elections business with a Cambridge Analytics.

 

[0049190]

I’ve never used Facebook and have no desire to use it. There seems to be so many problems with users getting scammed by fake adverts and children suffering serious mental health problems. I would be very happy if Facebook disappeared.

 

[Corefile]

Bring back the Facebook Phone.

 

[HighwaySnowman]

Angry people are more profitable.

I find it hard to believe that Zuckerberg suddenly found a conscience.

Unless you think it's appropriate to call women "household objects" he very much did not.

 

[CarAnalogy]

Legacy: the software version before subscriptions

Classic: the software version before we took away features you like to replace them with features that make us money.

I like this "retro" movement. I'm not fooled for a second that this is anything but a self-interested attempt to cash in on nostalgia and reclaim churned users.

But anything that brings us just a little bit closer to the days when software was designed for the people who use it is ok with me.

 

[springsup]

Basically:

“We spent decades, and untold billions of dollars, hiring UX researchers and designers and many, many levels of project and product managers, business consultants - the works… and the result was a significantly worse product that diluted the only value we were providing (staying connected with friends) and alienated our original customers.”

And yeah, we told you all that at the time.

 

[johnsawyercjs]

Unless you think it's appropriate to call women "household objects" he very much did not.

Zuck seems to be realigning Facebook to be more like the worldview of his fellow oligarch bro Musk.